


Shame on You

by MoonFire1



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Coming Out, Consequences, F/M, Families of Choice, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 20:10:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13508904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonFire1/pseuds/MoonFire1
Summary: Her son – their son – was gone. She had no one to blame but herself.





	Shame on You

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You Make Me Feel Brave](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6300340) by [pvtamytucker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pvtamytucker/pseuds/pvtamytucker). 



> All credit belongs respectively to pvtamytucker for "You Make Me Feel Brave" and to Ngozi U. for creating this wonderful sandbox to begin with.

The card arrived on a Wednesday. Post-marked from Beddington, Maine, the smallest town in that state. No return address was otherwise visible. 

Suzanne Bittle turned the envelope around in her hands before opening it. Her name was clearly scrawled on the front, yet she felt quite perplexed.

She didn’t know anyone in Beddington.

The front of the card was covered by a photograph of a rainy day. Droplets splattered against a window, car headlights seen in the misty grey. Certainly beautiful, but something about the image made Suzanne shiver.

 _Shame on you,_ the message began. _Shame on you for throwing away your child. Shame on you for disguising your hatred under the banner of your religion. Shame on you for teaching that same child how **conditional** your love would be._

**_Shame on you._ **

She didn’t recognize the handwriting. Her hands trembled, the edges of the card crinkling.

Someone close to Dic--close to Eric -- undoubtedly had sent the card. Despite what they believed, she loved her son.

Truly, she did.

She didn’t understand what he thought he was doing, but she loved her son.

It was just . . . easier, in a way, to love him from a distance. At least until he came to his senses.

The minute that thought crossed through her mind, Suzanne closed her eyes against a welling of shame. His teammates had shown up, invading her home like avenging angels. Eric left without looking back and she had not tried to stop him.

Shoving the card into the wastebasket, she moved through her house to the kitchen. It was a chilly day, and fresh chicken soup would warm her up.

~

Eric never tried to call her anymore. Richard didn’t bring him up much anyways, and it was easier to talk about the kids he coached, the goings on at the church, pretty much anything but the gaping hole where her sunshine used to be.

Eric didn’t call, and she wouldn’t call, because she didn’t know what to say.

“I contacted the school,” Richard said abruptly, several months later. “To make sure they knew we wouldn’t  . . . well. He’s on his own now.”

For a hot minute, rage overtook the shame that burrowed permanently within her heart. “Of course,” she said, eyes fixed upon her plate. “We’ve done what we could.”

Surely Eric would have to call now. Tough love was hard on the giver as well as the recipient. Just maybe it’d be enough to shock him back to his senses.

 _Shame on you._ The message lingered within her mind. **_SHAME ON YOU._**

~

“What do you mean you cannot release that information?” It might’ve taken over a year but Suzanne needed to know what was going on with her boy.

_“You are not listed as emergency contact for any student within this school.”_

Had Eric been expelled? Was he even in Rhode Island anymore? Her heart caught in her throat and she opened her laptop.

His YouTube channel hadn’t been that hard to find. Maybe if she’d gone looking earlier, this last year would not have happened.

She clicked on his latest video – **_New Year, New Me, Same Love_**.

~

“Sweetpea, what’s wrong?” Richard came into their bedroom and sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing Suzanne’s shoulders.

Slowly, the information came out. Eric had legally changed his name – had been **_adopted_** by one of his teammates. He would be graduating soon and starting a Master’s program.

He and Jack were still ridiculously, deliriously happy together.

She had tried calling Eric, but the number did not work. She had called Moo Maw, with no comfort to be received. Moo Maw could still talk to Eric, but clearly Suzanne and Richard would not be trusted.

_You both threw him away, Suzie. I won’t let my boy leave me that easily._

Her son – their son – was gone. She had no one to blame but herself. Richard cleared his throat gruffly, breathing hard.

_Whoever you were – whoever sent that card to me. You were right._

**_Shame on me._ **


End file.
